Whiteout Christmas
by R. Herring
Summary: Skywarp gets lost in a snowstorm and must find his way home. Shameless Christmas fluff. Minor SS/TC/SW - depends on how you read it.


Author's Note: Merry Christmas! This shameless little fluff story hijacked my brain over a cup of egg nog and a Christmas movie on TBS. Enjoy :)

Time measurements for this fic: an orn is approx. one hour, and a megacycle is approx. 2.3 hrs.

I do not own Transformers, "White Christmas" or "I'll be home for Christmas."

Thanks to my awesome beta, Kapu37!

**Whiteout Christmas**

The strange atmospheric anomaly the humans called "snow" poured down in a relentless cascade as a black Decepticon jet flew onwards, as stark and insignificant as a fly against the impenetrable whiteness surrounding him.

He checked his heading for the tenth time that orn, noting with satisfaction that he was on course. Given his current position and airspeed, he estimated that he would complete his patrol circuit in the next megacycle.

Plenty of time to meet Thundercracker for their nightly cube. Maybe if he got the elder seeker charged enough, he could be coaxed into regaling his younger trinemate with one of his many old war stories. TC was an excellent storyteller once high grade loosened his glossa a bit.

Skywarp remembered many a night sitting on Thundercracker's berth, as he listened with rapt attention to the mesmerizing baritone of his trinemate, his inflection changing as he recounted the loud excitement of a battle to the quiet teasing of political subterfuge in the old days of the senate.

Skywarp's wings drooped a little as he remembered the dismal state of their energy reserves. Tonight there would be no high grade. Tonight there would be no stories.

The local weather anomaly was intensifying, Skywarp noted with distaste. His optic sensors were blinded by white and his wings began to ice up.

"Skywarp to Nemesis."

"Nemesis: Acknowledges." The sonorous voice of Soundwave carried a strange echo through the long-range frequency channel.

"I am aborting my patrol. The local atmospheric conditions are interfering with my radar and the ice accumulation on my wings is becoming hazardous."

"Documentation of current patrol assignment: nonexistent," Soundwave replied laconically.

There was a pause in communication, and then...

"Skywarp, you idiot, what are you doing out there?!" The unmistakable screeching of his trineleader tore through his comlink.

"Flying the patrol you assigned me, Screamer." Skywarp drew out the hated nickname like an immature sparkling.

Uncharacteristically, Starscream did not rise to the bait.

"If you _ever_ bothered to read the memos I sent, you would know that I canceled all patrols for the next twelve megacycles due to extremely hazardous flying conditions."

"What is so hazardous about this fragging white..."

"Just teleport back to base immediately. That's an order," Starscream snapped.

"Okay, okay. Primus, don't get your wings in a bunch," Skywarp grumbled as he retrieved his coordinates in preparation to warp out.

His coordinates?

His radar echoed off the surrounding white torrent. It pinged off every crystalline structure.

Panic seized him, as he opened his com channel again.

He swallowed his pride and asked,

"Starscream, where am I?"

"What kind of question is that?" the annoyed voice of his trineleader instantly responded. Yet, he did not sound all that surprised by the seemingly idiotic query, nor did he quite manage to hide the undercurrent of worry in his voice.

"You have a heading?" he asked quietly after a moment.

"Yes. I am flying 030."

"Maintain your heading. Do not try teleporting until you can determine your exact location."

"Acknowledged. Skywarp out."

Ending the transmission was the last thing Skywarp wished to do at the moment. Even the unpleasant, gravelly voice of Starscream brought him comfort from the endless roaring silence. However, he felt the need to put on a brave face in front of his trineleader.

The frigid wind stung at his wingtips as he fought the strong headwind bearing down on him.

Ice built up on his wings as he tried to gain altitude. If he could just break cloud cover, then he would be out of the worst of it. Maybe he would hack one of the human's GPS satellites and use their coordinate system to warp home.

If only he could gain altitude.

He diverted more energy from his core to the de-icing equipment on the leading edges of his wings. He hummed in satisfaction as the burden on his wings eased a little, and he felt rivulets of icy cold water run off his sleek form.

It was not enough. The ice weighed too much. He would have to fight the storm.

He checked his chronometer. He should be meeting Thundercracker now in his friend's quarters - cube in hand, perhaps even a thick insulation blanket, as they lounged on his berth, recounting the events of the day. Warmth would radiate from Thundercracker in the form of a deep, resonating chuckle and a teasing little smirk that promised all sorts of secrets. Things Skywarp couldn't begin to guess.

He should be with Thundercracker, not outside being tossed around like a sparkling's plaything by the cruel wind.

A particularly strong gust blew him to the side, before a downdraft caused him to drop altitude at an alarming rate. His altmode was blown in all directions by the capricious wind, until he no longer knew which way was up.

"Skywarp to Nemesis."

"Yes, Skywarp?" He was met yet again by that familiar grating voice. That familiar horrible, grating voice that he would do anything to have directed at him now, in person, even if he had to recalibrate his audios afterwards.

"I've lost my heading," he admitted forlornly.

"Is there land in sight?"

Skywarp reached what limited sensors he could outwards, but the results were discouraging - endless miles of icy black ocean.

"No."

Silence.

"Skywarp, your previous heading should have placed you..."

His comlink filled with static.

"... airspeed at..."

"Starscream?" Skywarp dropped all sense of decorum and panicked, "Screamer?! Slagger, answer!"

There was only white noise.

Fighting the urge to start warping in all directions, Skywarp forced himself to slowly cycle air through his intakes until he could think more clearly.

He had enough energy for two warps at best, so warping randomly was out.

He extended his sensors again, sensitivity at maximum. He could not hear the Nemesis, but perhaps something closer...

Just when he was about to give up, he heard it faintly in the distance.

"... white Christmas. Just like the ones I used to know."

'What is that?' he wondered, as he honed in on what he soon realized was a human radio transmission.

"Where the tree tops glisten..."

Skywarp never thought he could possibly feel so elated by the human's sentimental drivel. But as it was, his spark was ready to burst from it's casing.

Human short wave transmissions meant land was near!

He ignited his afterburners and tore off towards the source of the noise, as a human femme came on the frequency and said,

"This is 103.3 WYAK, your Christmas station. For all of you driving home on icy roads to be with your loved ones tonight - this one's for you."

Skywarp expelled exhaust, utterly disdainful, yet hanging on the human's every word as if his life depended on it. Which, if he were honest with himself, it did.

"I'm dreamin' tonight of a place I love

Even more than I usually do

And although I know it's a long road back

I promise you"

Despite himself, Skywarp could not help his thoughts wandering to Thundercracker, and even to Starscream.

What were they doing now?

Were they worried about him?

Skywarp snickered. Perhaps Thundercracker would miss his favorite drinking buddy. But Starscream? The idea was laughable.

Yet, even though he knew the two of them would probably write him off as collateral damage, he could not stop his spark from swelling at the prospect of seeing them again.

"I'll be home for Christmas

You can count on me..."

A rocky coastline appeared on the horizon.

Transforming to bipedal mode, he quickly matched it to the maps in his databank.

Not even bothering to fight the stupid grin breaking out on his face, he opened his comlink.

"Skywarp to Nemesis."

Still no answer.

In his elation, he had almost forgotten the torrential snow and ice.

No matter. The Nemesis was very close. He flew the three miles back out to sea in bipedal mode, every once in a while throwing in a cheery loop or corkscrew in pure defiance of the roaring storm, until he was right above the submerged conning tower.

"Skywarp to Nemesis," he tried again, with no response.

With a shrug, he used his remaining energy to warp twice, in rapid succession, to his quarters on the Nemesis, resting on the ocean floor.

Tiredly, and with a relief greater than words could express, he shook off what saltwater he could from his frame and made his way towards his berth, and froze.

There, lying entangled in recharge, were Thundercracker and Starscream.

Datapads displaying of all manner of Earth maps were strewn all over the surface, along with one detailing Skywarp's logged flight plan. The one nearest Starscream had his last known location and heading marked.

Had they really been looking for him?

He inched closer, ventilation halting as he caught the dried energon tears on each of their faces.

He reached out to ghost a finger down Thundercracker's cheek, following the trail of a long-since shed tear.

The blue seeker startled.

"Starscream, have we checked..."

He froze as he saw Skywarp.

"'Warp?" he asked, utterly broken, sounding nothing like the confident, aloof mech Skywarp knew.

"What?" Starscream asked groggily as he stirred. "Wait, 'Warp?!" The scarlet seeker jolted awake with a screech.

"Hey guys..." Skywarp started awkwardly, not knowing quite what to say.

I was stupid?

I'm sorry I worried you?

I missed you?

I L - no.

Nothing fit, so he resigned himself to silence, as Thundercracker broke out into one of the most beautiful smiles Skywarp had ever seen.

Starscream, ever the emotional enigma, simply said, "Welcome home, you fragging idiot."

Slagger.

Skywarp wondered if he had just imagined those energon tear streaks, but the dried evidence was right in front of him. And there was no denying the emotion in his optics now, simmering quietly just below the surface, despite his trineleader's seemingly harsh words.

"Good to be back," he said as he crawled onto his berth between his trinemates, exhaustion finally overtaking him.

As he drifted off to recharge, his trinemates warm bodies pressed against his, the words that eluded him before finally came back.

"Hey guys?"

He received two sleepy moans in reply.

"Merry Christmas."


End file.
